Sinful whispering, Gregorian chants, multicultural sounds, modern and contemporary beats, metaphysical and sexual themes, and a lot more. This project that bravely rebelled against the world’s hypocrisy has one of the greatest success stories in history of music.
Experimental music is often looked down upon because the listener or the critic has the tendency to become irritated when a song or this kind of music sounds more like a total chaos than an art that should be enjoyed. (Although human nature leans on being very critical).
But as Gen Z says, hate the player, not the game. Not many can experiment with so many things, mix them all into one song, and reach a top 10 in US charts for hundreds of weeks. At that time, no one had achieved that since Pink Floyd.
‘Enigma’ initially started as an anonymous project in March of 1989 and only released their first album in December 1990 named ‘MCMXC a.D.’, which naturally means ‘1990’. The world was immediately exposed to ‘blasphemy’ on the radio and in a lot of countries, ‘Sadeness’ was banned from airplay. This, however, did not halt the success.
One of the main purposes of this project at the very beginning, was to scandalize an entire globe that has been subjugated by the terror of Catholic religion and their beliefs throughout the centuries. What better way to do so than to mix this same religion with themes of sexuality? There are plenty of ways to anger the Pope and the insanely corrupted institution. It’s been done so by Madonna and by Sinead O’Connor in the past.
In the end, a lot couldn’t cope with what was being done to ‘Catholicism’ on the radio or the way this ‘blasphemy’ was marketed, so they immediately labelled it “Satanic music”. Fast forward decades later, it seems like critics were right. Even Michael Cretu, the creator of ‘Enigma’, didn’t mince words about the religion.
From the first glance, this was a pretty clever way to become angry against a world that is ruled by such ‘an outdated institution’ (Cretu’s words). The preachers have collected millions just for being allegedly ‘celibate’, allegedly ‘devoting themselves to God’, and dictating everyone how to live. Anyone who cannot understand art often have very shallow arguments.
In hindsight, to rebel against Catholicism is not to be a raging Satanist but to question an institution that used to burn innocent people in the woods just for saying that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Sexuality is just the tip of the iceberg, or perhaps one part of the story.
On the other hand, controversy followed with the ‘illegal’ use of Gregorian chants in the first album, by Munich choir ‘Capella Antiqua’. After the lawsuit of ‘violation of personality rights’, the project stopped being anonymous and its creator was immediately discovered to be Michael Cretu, with his then-wife Sandra Ann Lauer whispering the female parts.
‘Enigma’ didn’t intend to be ‘mysterious’ for a very short time, but neither for a long time. And from then on, what began as an anonymous project, it later became a riddle. It was time that the name of the project (which translated from Greek to English means ‘riddle’ or ‘mystery’) to be paid its respects.
At the beginning it is written that not many can master such experimental music successfully. To understand art you need to study it. And to solve the enigma you also need to study it. Sometimes, you must have the answer in front of you in one short sentence, and the rest of the puzzle solves by itself.
As soon as the creator of Enigma was revealed, Cretu was frequently irritated by anyone who wanted to know what the music of ‘Enigma’ is about, to which he responded:
It’s enigma, not instruction manual
Even then, he didn’t resist the temptation to mislead. The charming Romanian is an expert of saying too much by revealing nothing, and it only amplifies the mystery. But this only becomes mysterious when one takes everything at face value and read everything too much on surface-level.
It’s to be understood in another manner and it requires a high level of intellect and empathy, which is also why it is one of the most genius projects in history of music, for one simple reason that will be revealed now.
Although Cretu welcomed everyone to solve the enigma, little do people know that this riddle was made deliberately unsolvable. Even to this day, people wonder what it is about. Michael knew that nobody would be able to solve it. It was made in such a way that nobody would solve it.
It follows one motive: All roads lead to Rome.
This project has been created so meticulously and orchestrated to detail that everything here simply makes sense. Everything here is like a rich salad of 20 ingredients: cultures, scandalous themes, religion, lyrics, literature, esotericism, metaphysics, science, spirituality, with a few alienations. And they’re all linked to each other. In the midst of that deliberate and beautiful mess, Cretu delivers a message, which is also the riddle itself. From 1990 to 2016, eight albums which you could rather call it a book. The genius lies exactly on the consistency of it, no matter the volume.
The story of ‘Enigma’
‘Enigma’ contains religious themes, topics of philosophy, esotericism and metaphysics, dualism (Yin & Yang) and inspirations from the greatest literary works. In one single project and with all these elements in mind, it’s explained the journey of man in their death of identity for the rebirth of someone new, gaining self-enlightenment.
It is the journey of man who has to make difficult choices even if it’s at their own or someone else’s detriment, for the sake of going through the identity death which is crucial for the enlightenment of the soul. The journey of man who reflects to the past and sees the consequences of the choices he made in crossroads. Who has to give up the harmful habits. Who recognizes a soul in another.
Everything is told in such a meticulous and perfect way through all the elements mentioned above. One can even say that Cretu killed too many birds with one stone.
The question is how can you create a riddle which makes perfect sense? That’s like writing a fantasy book with three or four volumes. (The funny thing is, Cretu is a great fan of sci-fi). In music, artists do tend to alienate a lot from their repertoire or expression. Here, it’s different. A lot of multicultural and esoteric, spiritual themes are explored indeed, but the message is one and the same. Because the riddle is a story. And you cannot create a story unless you’re the storyteller.
These are not to be understood in a blink of an eye. It takes time.
That’s why you also have to trust sometimes the words of the one who himself created the riddle:
Music is the only place where I express my feelings and thoughts
You have to believe it is a personal riddle, which is why it was deliberately made to be unsolvable.
But the purpose of a riddle is to be solved. The time has come.
A lot of analysis and interpretations have been made over the decades, be it on the age of internet or perhaps by journalists. Reading through the old and current fan-forums, it seems like they also do not know what ‘Enigma’ is about. From the old interviews, it could be concluded that the fans always seemed curious about the clues. They always analysed the imageries in the albums, the lyrics in the songs. the figures that were portrayed in the videos or the designs, or even the folklore or the samples that were used. Let’s say, are the Latin chants somewhat related to the message of the song, or was it simply artistic addition?
It’s quite obvious that ‘Enigma’ is a very multi-layered project.
But, it becomes somewhat annoying after a time how much it is marketed and analysed that “Sadeness” is only about sex-obsessed religious persona Marquis de Sade, and do not study the art deeply. You can find these explanations on documentaries or even Wikipedia and you’ll see hundreds of “art connoisseurs” explaining how the song and the music-video is about de Sade. The thing with ‘Enigma’ is that you shouldn’t rely on surface-level explanation.
Disappointment had also washed over the fans who wanted to experience ‘Enigma’ live in concert. Unfortunately, a few realize that this was never a project or a band that is supposed to be experienced or enjoyed live, but to be felt in yourself. You can’t experience something like that in a crowd of people. It only becomes background noise.
It was also never a kind of music you could ‘only’ have sex to or conceive children with. Neither was it a kind of music where the guest musicians who were invited are supposed to claim ownership of the project.
How can an outsider dare to have their claim to ‘Enigma’ when they have no idea what is it about? They do not connect to it because they’re not part of the story, neither do they understand the idea of it.
This is a kind of music that is created in total solitude and isolation, without the presence of too many people, and as so should be listened to.
Real artists never tell the masses who study or consume art what their piece is about. You cannot understand it unless you connect to it and study it.
‘Enigma’ is not to be consumed, it is to be studied and understood. Just like any other masterpiece in history.
The point is to understand and empathize. To appreciate it exists and that it was told.
‘Enigma’ without a story would be nothing.
We want to tell it in our own way and to give it justice.
